Steam attachment for flatirons



April 1953 J. N. POLIVKA ETAL 2,634,524

STEAM ATTACHMENT FOR FLATIRONS Filed 001;. 11. 1948 INVENTORS JQHN N.POLIVKA MAURICE H. GRAHAM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED STATESPATENT Qt F ICE;

STEAM ATTACHMENT FO RFLATIRON S J olin N, Polivka' anrI Maurice Graham,Mimicapolis, Minn, assignors to Gcneral Milla-lncfi, a; corporation ofB'el'aware Application Octoben 11, 19 18;.S'eriaf No. 53,902

This application relates to steaming devices and more particularly tosteaming devices" for attachment to an ordinaryfiatiron'.

Various devices. have been proposed for'u'se' in combination with aregular flatiron" in order? to provide. steam during the ironingoperation; Some of? these devices or attachments are designed. toconvert water from a suitable source of. supply into steam within theattachment and direct the steam into the material being. ironed. Otherdevices are designedior'connection' to an external source of steam andserve either to superheat the steam or maintain it. in its condition of'vaporization while the steam. passes through the attachment. Becausesuch devices are separable from the fl'ati'rons with whichlthey are.usedfit isv sometimesdifficult to maintain the parts in. good heatconductive relationship with each other. We have found that the problem-of proper heat. conduct'ion are intensified in many cases, bdifferences. in the thermal expansion characteristics. of. the flatironand; the attachment and-by variation inthe dimensions of the parts.within. the normal manufacturing. toler Anumiber. of. methods have beenproposed' for attachment of suchasteaming device to. a flatiron. Someof. the. attachin meansincl'u'de the use. ofrigid clamps. or screws.which grip. the iron firmly at spacedpointst These clamps. have thedisadvantage that they are fixed and unyielding and cannot accommodatechanges in expansion or. position of'the,v parts which may take placeduring heating. If they are set loosely enough. to permit such relativeexpansion, thenproperihe'at conduction cannot be obtained.

In other cases the attachment has been provided' with springs orresilient's'trips passing over the top of the flatiron body to hold theattach- ,ment'in assembled position. Such'fastenings are b' ulkyan'dunsightly and can be accidentally deformed 01' disengaged by externalforces. Fur- 'thermore, in cases Where the attachmentinclud'es a liquidsupply tank, the use of such springs or strips-makes it difficult tosecurea compact location of the tank around the top portions of theiron; sinceconsiderable freespace must be avail- It" is a further objectto provide such a device with means for attachment to the ironwhich willaccommodate diiherences in relativeexpansion or (inferences in' lengthof the individual parts due to manufacturing variations withoutdisturbing the necessaryheat conductiverelationship ofthe parts.

It is another obj e'ct toprovide-improved means for attaching" asteaming device to a fiatiron which has a beveled or outwardly and downwardiy sloping edge portion at both the frontand the rear ofthe iron.

Still another object is the rovision of an attachmentforuse with" aniron having a beveled sole-plate edge; in whichthe-attachment has aninclined camportion for engaging the beveled edgeat one endofthe-ironanda" resiliently adjustable camportion" for engagement with thebeveled edge at the opposite end of the iron;

A further'object isthe provision of an improved combination of parts inwhich sucha steaming device includes a liquid supply tank'and attachingmechanism compactly arranged forefficient connection to a fi'atiron'.

A still further oh'ject is the" provision of improved fasteningmeans-supported and concealed beneath the tank of such an attachment-Another object is: a steaming" device in which a tank is carried- 15y a'su'ppo'rt-at one en'd of the device; said support also" servingtocarry'ans concea'l the fastening mechanism by which: the dcviceisattached to a-fiatiron;

Other objects: and advantages of the": inventionwill be apparent fromthe following: specification" in which a preferred embodiment: of theinvention has-been:- described byway of example.

In the drawings which form a; part of this specification;

Figure: 1'. i's a' side elevationcf. a steaming-novice attachedto aflatiron-.-

Fig.- 2: is a; partial perspective view" of; the attachment of Fig." 1.removedirom -the fiatiron.

Figs 3 is a partial. plan: view: of. the attaching 1 mechanism at oneend of the; flatiron Fig. 4 is a sectional view on. the final-4 01Eigt3gand Fig; 5'- is a partial sectional-'- viewshowing how thefastening mechanism of the present inven i8 provides means formanipulation of the iron and a control knob may be mounted on thishandle and connected to a control device within the shell It to regulatethe temperature of the iron in known manner. An electric supply cord 22furnishes the necessary current for the heating element.

The steaming device itself includes a steam soleplate 24 which isprovided with a steam generating or heating chamber 26 and openings 23through which the steam may be discharged from chamber 26 through thebottom of soleplate 24 and into the material being ironed. In thisparticular case, a conduit 30 supplies water to the chamber 26 from areservoir or tank 32 mounted on a supporting member including sidebrackets 34 and 36 at the rear of steam soleplate 24. These bracketshave horizontal lower flanges and 3'! which are attached to thesoleplate 24 by suitable screws 38 (Fig. 2). The rear end of thesoleplate has been recessed to fit these lower flanges, so that theupper surfaces of the flanges will lie flush with the top of thesoleplate and provide an unbroken surface for engagement with theflatiron bottom. The side brackets 34 and 36 may be connected at theirrear by an integral cross flange 39, so that the support is insubstantially the form of a hollow column, open at the forward side.

In order to obtain proper vaporization or heatship between the steamsoleplate 24 and the bottom of the flatiron soleplate Hi, The improvedattaching mechanism according to the present invention is designed foruse with a flatiron, such as the one illustrated, which is provided withoutwardly and downwardly sloping or beveled portions at opposite ends orsides of the iron. In this case the beveled portions are provided on theedges of the soleplate I4. Thus the forward portion of the soleplate isbeveled as indicated at 40. A fixed attaching member or toe box 42 islocated at the forward end of the steam soleplate 24 for cooperativeengagement with the beveled forward edge 45 of the flatiron soleplatel4. As shown in Fig. '5, the inner face of this retaining portion 42 issloped at 44 to correspond to the beveled edge 40 at the front of theflatiron. Thus the portions 40 and 44 cooperate with each other toprovide cam surfaces which will hold the bottom surface of flatironsoleplate I4 firmly against the top surface of steam soleplate 24 attheir respective forward ends, in response to a movement or forcetending to urge the flatiron soleplate to the left in Fig. 5 relative tothe steam soleplate 24. Thus relative longitudinal movement between theflatiron and steam attachment in one direction tends to urge the forwardportions of the flatiron and steaming device into firm heat conductivecontact, in response to the camming effect of surfaces 40 and 44.

To provide this relative longitudinal movement, a resilient retainingmember 46 is mounted at the opposite end of the steaming device forengagement with the opposite or, in this case, the rear end of theflatiron l2. Latch member 46 has a pair of latching arms 48 whichcooperate with the outwardly and downwardly beveled rear edge portion 50of the flatiron soleplate 14, as shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4. Inthis case, the rear of the flatiron soleplate tapers to a smoothlyround'ed rear end or point, and the two latching portions 48 engage thebeveled edge 55 at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of thesoleplate I4. Thus the latch portions 43 serve to center the rearportion of the flatiron with respect to the attachment and to preventrelative lateral movement between these parts, just as the engagement ofthe sides of the fixed attaching member 42 prevents relative lateralmovement between the front ends of the flatiron and steam attachment.

The latch member 46 consists of a relatively heavy Wire or rod-likemember, the ends of which are bent to extend transversely as indicatedat 52 and 54 to provide bearing portions pivotally mounted in transverseopenings in the tank supporting brackets 34 and 36 respectively.Bearingshaft 52 is extended on beyond the bracket 34 for connection to asuitable handle or finger piece 56 for manual operation of latch 46.

A relatively strong spring 58 (Fig. 2) is coiled about the bearingshafts 52 and 54 and has its intermediate portion in engagement with thecentral portions 60 of the latch member. The ends of the spring bearagainst suitable portions of the brackets or the tank in such a mannerthat the spring tends to urge the latch portions 48 downwardly towardthe bottom of the attachment. The spring is omitted in Fig. 3 forclarity.

In operation of the device according to this invention the fingerpiece56 will be operated to raise the latching portions 48 so that the rearend of the flatiron may be introduced underneath the latch. The forwardend of the iron is then engaged with the steam attachment and the ironis moved forwardly so that the surfaces 44 and 44 at the front of theiron and attachment are in engagement with each other. Upon release ofthe fingerpiece 5B the spring 58 will urge the latching portions 48downwardly against the beveled rear edge portions 50 of the flatiron.Since the edge portion 50 slopes outwardly both to the rear and to theside at this particular region of the iron, it is clear that a downwardforce on the latching portions 48 will exert a camming action againstthe surfaces 50 tending to urge the flatiron soleplate I4 forwardlyrelative to the steaming device. Thus the necessary relativelongitudinal movement between the flatiron and steam attachment isprovided. This will cause cooperating cam action between the inclinedinner surface 44 of the fixed support 42 and the beveled forward edge 40of the flatiron. The relative longitudinal force exerted by theresilient latch thus results in a tight clamping action at the forwardend of the iron.

At the same time, the downward force exerted by the latching portions 48against the surface 50 results in relatively tight clamping of the rearportions of the flatiron and steam attachment. It will be noted,accordingly, that the resilient latch 46 cooperates with the beveledrear portion of the flatiron soleplate M to provide an attaching forcehaving two components. One component is exerted in a longitudinaldirection and is utilized in cooperation with the sloping for- .Ward camportions 40 and 44 to effect the necessary clamping at the front of theiron. The other component of force is vertical and serves to clamp therear portions of the iron and steaming device.

As shown in the drawings, the sides of the tank supports 34 and 36 formsmooth walls which extend forwardly beyond the forward edge 48 of latchmember 46, as well as rearwardly beyond the shafts 52 and 54 of thelatch. Thus the latch is substantiallyconcealed and protected inside thesupport portions 34, 36 and 331 This construction not only makespossible the design of an. attachment which is more pleasinginappearance, but also prevents accidental deformation or damage to thelatching portions by external forces. Furthermore the construction isexceedingly compact, since the tank may be located closely around andover the top rear portion of the iron, without the problem of obtainingac cessto the top of the iron for fastening the earlier type of topstrap or spring. In this connection it will be noted thatthe tank haspor tions 33 extending forwardly along each side of the rear handle postto increase. the tank ca pacity without substantial increase in thebulkiness of the assembly and without interference with the visibilityof the forward and side portions of the ironing surfaces. These tanl z'por tions 33 also extend forwardly and laterally beyond the latchportions 48, sothat the latch is further concealed and protected by thetank. Such protection and concealment are also obtained at the rear byrearward extension of the tank beyond cross flange 39 of the support.

The manner in which the attaching mecha nism just described serves tomaintain the hat iron and steam attachment in close heat conductiverelationship at all times, regardless of differ ences in thermalexpansion or differences in length resulting from manufacturingvariations, is illustrated in Fig. 5-. Here'it may be assumed that theheavy line positions in the figure indicate the relative location of thepartswhen cold. Atthis time, the latching portions 38 engage the beveledrear' surfaces 59' of the flatiron soleplate i l at a given point 6-?which is located between the top and bottom of soleplate M. Thus thereis a portion of surface 59 both above and below the point of engagementas of the latch '58; If the parts are now heated and if the steam at.-tachment soleplate 2 2 expands more than the flatiron soleplate it, therelative location of the rear of the steam soleplate will be shifted tothe dotted line position indicated at 86'. Since. latch portions d8 arepivoted to the supporting brackets on the rear of the steam attachment;the" latch d8 will likewise be shifted to a new relative position acorresponding distance to the rear of its original location. Since,however, the latch :38 is resiliently urged in a downward direction, itwill slide downwardly along; the outwardly beveled surface 5%] and willhold the flatiron soleplate l5 firmly against the front retaining cam32.. The final. location of the latching member 43 may be represented bythe dotted line position of Fig. 5 at which point the latch engages thesurface 5i) at a lower level 68 than the initial point ofengagement 66.The resilience of the latch and its cooperative engagement with the.sloping cam surface or beveled edge 50 of thefiatiron has accordinglypermitted the. necessary difference. in relative expansion of the; partswhile. at. the. same. time. the horizontal and. vertical components offorce maintain the necessary clamping engagement at both the front andthe rear of the flatiron and steam attachment.

Obviously if the flatiron itself expanded: more than the steamsoleplate; the situation'would be reversed and the latch 48 would moveupwardly and forwardly along the beveled portions 50 to maintain theproper clamping forces.

This latching mechanism likewise maintains the requisite clampingengagement in spite of variations in the dimensions of the partsdue-tomanufacturing tolerances. Thus the" latch portions 48 areinitially designed to engage theslop' ing edges 50 at substantially thevertical midpoint of these surfaces when both the fiatiron andattachment are made exactly according to dimension. A slight variationone way or theother in the dimensions of either partwill ac cordingly beaccommodated by slight upward or"- downwardshifting of the latch portion48 from one ironor attachment to another.

The above action is made possible by the resil ient camming engagementbetween the latch member and the beveled edge of the fiatirona It willbe clear that this engagement requires? that the latching portions' lflbe movable along a line 'angul'arly intersecting the beveled soleplateedge. This condition can be met'in a-nu'mber of ways, whether the latchbe pivotally' or slidably mounted, by suitable location of the latchpivot or by adjustment of the latch mount ing to secure the necessaryline of actionand camming engagement.

From the foregoing description, it will be ap parent that a constructionhas been provided. by

which the objects of the present invention have been accomplished. Thecooperative'combination of fixed latching portions having caminterengagement at one end of the iron and attachment and of a resilientlatching member at the opposite end of the attachment for cooperative?errgagement with a cam portion at therear of the iron makes it possibleto maintain a steam attachment in proper heat conductive relationshipwith a flatiron at all times. The contact is not disturbed bydiiferences in the thermal expansion of the flatiron and steamattachment nor is it aifected by small variations in dimensions due tomanufacturing tolerances. It is therefore possible to produce such steamattachments in relatively large quantities with all the usual savings ofmass production methods, with.- out the problem of individual fitting oradjustment' of each attachment to the particular iron with which it' isdesigned foruse. Furthermore; the arrangement of the tanlc on a supportat the rear of the steam soleplate, and the mounting of' an attachingmember within the support and beneath the tank, offer definiteadvantages in. compactness, appearance, ease of operation and economy ofmanufacture.

Obviously, variations in the specific details of construction of theparts and the manner in which they engage each other to perform theirspecific functions may be made in the light of the teachings of thisapplication. This. invention is therefore intended to include all suchmodifications, changes, and improvements as fall within thespirit andscope of the attached claims.

Now; therefore, we claim:

1. A steaming" device for use with fiatirons. having'an outwardly anddownwardly beveled lower edge, comprising a steam" soleplate, and meanson the devicefor attachment ofthe' sol'e plate with its upper surfaceagainst the bottom of a fiatiron; said attachment means including arearwardly and upwardly extending'portiomat the rearofthesteamsolepla'te, a latch pivotally mounted on the rearwardly andupwardly extending portion of the device for rotation' on a horizontalaxis spaced outwardly beyond the fiatiron rear edge and above the levelof the fiatiron bottom, said latch having a portion extending inwardlyagainst the beveled edge and movable along a line inclined downwardlytoward the flatiron and angularly intersecting the beveled lower edge ofthe flatiron, and means resiliently urging the latch portion against thebeveled edge.

2. A steaming device for removable attachment to a fiatiron, comprisinga steam soleplate, a rearwardly and upwardly extending hollow supportingmember mounted on the soleplate and having enclosing plates on the rearand two sides constituting a substantially enclosed chamber with oneopen side facing toward the flatiron, a liquid supply tank mounted onthe supporting member, and cooperating means for attachment of thedevice to the flatiron including a latch movably mounted within saidsupporting member and substantially concealed and protected by theplates of the latter.

3. A steaming device for removable attachment to a fiatiron, the devicecomprising a steam soleplate, a supporting bracket mounted on thesoleplate, a liquid supply tank mounted on the bracket and extendingover a portion of the flatiron and spaced closely above the portionwhenthe device is attached to the iron, and a latch mounted on the deviceinside the bracket, one part of the latch being movable for engagementwith said fiatiron portion beneath the tank.

4. A steaming device for removable attachment to a fiatiron, the devicecomprising a steam soleplate, a rearwardly and upwardly extendingsupporting bracket mounted on the rear of the oleplate and including apair of laterally spaced substantially vertical and parallel side platesextending longitudinally of the soleplate, a liquid supply tank mountedon the bracket above the side plates, and a latch mounted on the deviceand having a movable part between the side plates for engagement withsaid flatiron, the side plates extending both forwardly and rearwardlybeyond said movable part over a substantial horizontal and vertical areabetween the steam soleplate and tank, whereby the movable part issubstantially concealed and protected by the side plates. 7

5. A steaming device for removable attachment to a flatiron, the devicecomprising a steam soleplate, a supporting bracket mounted on thesoleplate and including a pair of spaced side plates, a liquid supplytank mounted on the bracket above the side plates, and extending over aportion of the flatiron when the device is attached to the iron, and alatch mounted on the device and having a movable part between the sideplates and beneath the tank for engagement with said flatiron portion,the side plates extending over a substantial horizontal and verticalarea between the steam soleplate and tank, and the movable part beingsubstantially concealed and protected by the side plates and tank.

6. A steaming device for removable attachment to a flatiron comprising asteam soleplate, a supporting member at the rear of the soleplate, aliquid supply tank mounted on the supporting member and having a portionadapted to extend forwardly and overlap the rear of the flatiron, alatch member having a transverse shaft portion pivotally mounted in thesupporting member and provided with retaining portions and adapted toextend forwardly between the flatiron and tank and engaging the fiatironbeneath the tank, and resilient means engaging the latch member andurging said retaining portions downwardly against the flatiron.

7. A steaming device for removable attachment to a fiatiron comprising asteam soleplate, a supporting member at the rear of the soleplate, onepart of the supporting member adapted to extend rearwardly beyond thefiatiron and another part adapted to extend forwardly along each side ofthe fiatiron, a liquid supply tank mounted on the supporting member andhaving a first portion extending forwardly and adapted to overlap therear of the fiatiron and a second portion adapted to extend rearwardlybeyond the flatiron, a latch member having a transverse shaft portionpivotally mounted in that part of the supporting member which is adaptedto extend rearwardly of the fiatiron and provided with retainingportions extending forwardly and adapted to project between the flatironand tank and engaging the fiatiron beneath the tank, and

resilient means engaging the latch member and urging said retainingportions downwardly against the flatiron.

8. A steaming device for use with flatirons having an outwardly anddownwardly beveled lower edge, comprising a steam soleplate, and meansfor attachment of the soleplate with its upper surface against thebottom of the iron, said attachment means comprising an upwardly andinwardly inclined retaining member at one end of the soleplate adaptedfor cam engagement with the beveled lower edge of the corresponding endof the fiatiron thereby urging the iron and soleplate against each otherin response to relative longitudinal movement of the iron toward saidone end of the soleplate, a latch pivotally mounted at the opposite endof the soleplate for rotation on a horizontal axis spaced rearwardlybeyond the corresponding other end of the flatiron, said latch having aportion extending inwardly against the beveled flatiron edge when theflatiron and steaming device are assembled and movable along a lineinclined downwardly toward the fiatiron and angularly intersecting thebeveled lower edge of the fiatiron thereby having cam engagement withsaid beveled edge and causing relative longitudinal movement of theflatiron toward said one end of the soleplate in response to downwardmovement of said latch portion against the beveled edge, and meansresiliently urging the latch portion downwardly against said bevelededge and thereby also urging the iron and soleplate toward each other atsaid corresponding end of the flatiron.

JOHN N. POLIVKA.

MAURICE H. GRAHAM.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 990,922 Stoll May 2, 1911 1,023,802 Blattle Apr. 23, 19121,969,583 Skolnik Aug. 7, 1934 2,142,032 Matsen Dec. 27, 1938 2,302,264Schwartz Nov. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,439 GreatBritain Nov. 17, 1910 212,631 Switzerland Mar. 3, 1941

